This is Roald Tweet on Rock Island.
In 1938, Robert Maynard Hutchins threw football out of the University of Chicago. By then, Augustana College over in Rock Island had been debating the merits of football for more than forty years.
In its inaugural year, the Augustana football team defeated the University of Iowa 6-0. But by 1905, the board of directors had come to feel that sports were evil and detracted from college intellectual life. Sports were banned at Augustana.
Football returned in 1917, only when it was apparent that prospective students were choosing other colleges with football. It returned with a vengeance, especially after 1929 when Coach H. V. "Shorty" Almquist took over. By 1934 he had led Augustana to its first undefeated season. "I dream of turning Augustana into the Notre Dame of the Swedes," he said at an athletic banquet.
It was a dream that made the opponents of football uneasy, especially Augustana president, Conrad Bergendoff. World War II took care of football for several years, but the problem returned after the war. How much should sports be emphasized at a liberal arts college?
Into this dilemma, in the early fifties, stepped a new football coach, Vince Lundeen. Morally and physically, Vince carried himself erect. Vertical Vince, as he came to be called. He emphasized sportsmanship, teamwork, doing one's best.
It is fortunate that he also emphasized losing with grace. Vince Lundeen's teams got lots of practice in that. After three straight losing seasons, Vince waited for the axe to fall. A coach can't survive on that record. But there was no letter.
After six straight losing seasons, Vince felt so bad that he sent a letter of resignation in himself.
This time there was a response. President Bergendoff refused to accept Vince's resignation. "You are exactly the kind of coach we in Lutheran liberal arts education have been looking for," Bergendoff wrote.
This may not have been of much comfort to Vertical Vince, but it may have suggested a new pep talk: "Alright, men, let's go out and lose one for the blue and gold."
Rock Island Lines with Roald Tweet is underwritten by Augustana College, Rock Island, Illinois.
